Fuel



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T0 at? whom it may concerai Be it known that l, BURNELL l Tunrsou, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in thecounty of New York and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Fuels, of which the following is a specification,

My invention relates particularly to fuels designed to be used in any desired manner. lit has application especially to fuels adapted tobe used alternatively for a wide variety of purposes, as for example, fuels to be used for burnersunder steam boilers, as well as for internal combustion engines of various kinds, Diesel engines and the like. An object'of my invention is to provide an efficient fuel for varioususes, which fuel, al

though containing a comparatively heavy hydrocarbon, shall nevertheless contain such additional substance or substances as to enable the fuel, to be used, alternatively or optionally, in the same manner as the light hydrocarbon fuels heretofore employed in internal combustion engines, or the like, said additional substances not being mere paraffin hydrocarbons.

Another object of my invention is to provide a fuel, or type of fuel, containing a relatively heavy hydrocarbon together with an additional lighter'coinbustible ingredient of such a character that it will blend effectually with the relatively heavy hydrocarbon and notably modify the properties thereof. 7

A further object of my invention is to provide a fuel containing a heavy. hydrocarbon and, blendedtherewith, a lighter con stituent or constituents which may be substantially anhydrous, I I

Afurther object of my invention is to providea fuel of this character which need ordinarily contain no other blending agent than such substantially anhydrous constituent or constituents.

In one of its broader aspects, my present invention may be said to aim at a wider availability, in the production of motive power, on the partof relatively heavy hydrocarbons, such as heavy distillates derived from crude "oil, and having a gravity of less than 40 Be, such wider availability resulting from the employment therewithof an ingredient or ingredients which shall con- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April it, Serial Ito. 373,306.

tribute so notably to readiness of ignition that satisfactory ignition may be obtained without raising the Baum density of the product even to the level of ordinary kerosene, and contribute to producing an improved combustion, and in one of its more restricted aspects my present invention may be said to aim at the production, from hydrocarbons that have already been deprived of their gasoline and kerosene fractions, of a product, presumably less costly than either of the mentioned fractions, which shall at the same time rival gasoline in its suitability for use in, for example, automobile engines.

In one aspect, the present invention may I be said to proceed from a recognition of progress made' and to he made in the de sign of engines and other devices for the utilization of the energy of fuels, and, in so far as it aims at a complemental advance in the perfecting of crude fuels for more exacting and importantuses than those to which such fuels have heretofore been put, it may be said to aim at obviating a shortage in one'of .the prime necessities of modern manufacture and commerce, fuels for automobile engines and the like.

In one aspect, my present invention may be said torelate to a process or processes for the production of liquid fuel compositions,

while in another aspect it relates to the resulting compositions. It is the intention to protect herein both of the-foregoing 1nventions in their generic features. v The fuels herein referred to being essentially mere mixtures or solutions of one organic substance within another, it will be apparent that the sequence of operations by which they are produced may be varied, but the following may serve as typical examples.

Beginning with any ordinary mineral o l, such as a typical Pennsylvanla crude Oll, l may distill oil for direct use in commerce the usual quantities of lighter products including gasoline and kerosene, proceeding with such distillation preferably until substantially all the gasoline and kerosene have been distilled off and until the residuum left in the stlll shall have a Baum' gravity less than 40. I may then associate with this residual material, or with a fraction distilled there from, and in anyconvenient manner, as by directly thereinto, one or more relatively volatile combustible constituents satisfactorily miscible therewith, such as:

Alcohols (e. g. methyl, ethyl, propyl,butyl or amyl alcohol, or mixtures thereof).

Ethers (e. g. ethyl, methyl or ethyl methyl ether, or mixtures thereof).

Esters (e. g. esters made from any of above alcohols and any organic acid, or mixtures containing such esters).

Ketones (e. g. acetone, methyl. ethyl ketone, or oils or other mixtures containing such ketones).

The foregoing types of relatively volatile combustible constituents may, for convenience, be generically referred to in this case Serial Nos. 373,307 and 373,308 and related cases as organic compounds containing an alkyl r-adicle and oxygen, theesters and ketones being somewhat more specifically referred to collectively as organic compounds containing a carbonyl group and an alkyl radicle.

Instead of, or in addition to the foregoing, I may associate with the heavier hydrocarbon material volatile combustible constitucuts in the form of organic compounds or mixtures of organic compounds containing aryl radicles, such as:

Aromatic hydrocarbons (e. g. benzol, toluol, xylol, or mixtures thereof).

Nitro-hydrocarbons (e. g. nitrobenzol, nitro-toluol, or mixtures thereof).

The proportions in which the respective volatile combustible ingredients referred to (or any analogous ingredients that may fall within the class hereinafter presented) may advantageously be incorporated with the heavier hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon mixture will, of course, depend not alone upon the exact character of the heavy hydrocarbon and upon the selection made among the volatile combustible ingredients, but also upon whether it is intended to produce in one product what might be termed a versatile, or universal liquid fuel capable of a great variety of uses, or whether the manufacturing intent is rather to produce a fuel possessing, in the highest practicable degree, certain advantages or peculiarities adapting it to some specific use (such as use in ve hicle engines, in stationary engines, in inection oil engines, or in oil burners), and an extremely wide range of variations Will accordingly be understood to be included Within the intended scope of the claims appended hereto. lhe following are offered merely as specific examples of compositions within the scope of my present invention, it being understood that Wherever the expression heavy oil is employed in the said examples, this expression may refer to a petroleum distillate or residue which may consist of parafin oils, and which might be heavier than 4:09

B., and which may, for example, be as heavy as 28 B. By the term, petroleum distill-ates heavier than kerosene, I mean those petroleum distillates which have densities lying above the generally-accepted upper limit of the range of kerosene densities, which, as already mentioned, lies at about 40 B., or about .82 absolute density. The parts refered to therein are parts by volume:

- Gnome ll.

Example]. Heavy oil parts. Alcohol (of about 95% strength) 20 parts.

Ether 5 parts. From this the ether may be omitted, if desired.

Ewample' 2.

it should be understood that in any of the examples of the foregoing Group l: the alcohol may, Within the scope of the present invention, be supplanted Wholly or in part by a corresponding quantity of one or more of the alternative oxygen-containing volatile alkyl compounds mentioned in the sameor another example.

Nitrobenzol '5 parts.

It should be understood that in the examples of Group H, the benzol may be supplanted in wholeor in part by nitrobenzol, and that nitrotoluol or nitroxylol might be used instead of nitrobenzol.

GROUP Ill.

Emample 6. Heavy oil parts. Ethyl acetate 20 parts. Example '7. Heavy oil 83 parts. Acetone 17 parts.

It should be understood that in the preparation of fuels within Group III, the quantity pf acetone recommended is slightly less than the quantity of ethyl acetate recom- 'anaenee v mended. Due allowance being made for this difference, acetone may, be substituted for ethyl acetate in whole or in part, these mentioned volatile constituents being alike in containing the group CO, which justifies reference to them generically as compounds containing carbonyl and alkyl.

As already mentioned, and as will be apparent from the foregoing, while I have described in detail numerous specific embodiments of my invention in universal liquid fuels, each of which comprises a preponderating quantity of a heavy hydrocarbon, and each of Which is suitable for uses as widely separated as are, on'the one hand-employment (under suitable conditions of temperature and pressure and in due admixture with air or with oxygen) in explosion motors and, on the other hand, employment in direct generation of heat under steam boilers, many additional changes may be made without departing'from the spirit of my invention, as indicated in the foregoing description and in the appended claims.

I claim 1. A liquid fuel which is more dense than kerosene, comprising a relatively heavy hydrocarbon of an aliphatic Series, and alcohol.

2. A liquid fuel which is more dense than kerosene, comprising,a relatively heavy hydrocarbon of an aliphatic series, alcohol, and

I an ether.

3. A liquid fuel which is more dense than kerosene, comprising a relatively heavy hydrocarbon of an aliphatic series, alcohol, and ether.

t. A liquid fuel which is more dense than kerosene, comprising a relatively heavy hy-1 drocarbon of an aliphatic series alcohol, an ether, and anester.

5. A liquid fuel which is more dense than kerosene, comprising a relatively heavy hydrocarbon of an aliphatic series, alcohol, an ether, and ethyl acetate.

6. A liquid fuel which is more dense than kerosene, comprising a relatively heavy hydrocarbon of an aliphatic series, alcohol, an ether, anester, and a ketone. V

7. A liquid fuel which is more dense than kerosene, comprising a relatively heavy hydrocarbon of an aliphaticseries, alcohol, an ether, an'ester, and acetone.

8. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, and an alcohol.

91A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, and ethyl distillate heavier than kerosene, ethyl alcohol, and ethyl ether.

14.. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, an alcohol, a ketone, and an ether.

15. A liquid fuel comp-rising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, ethyl alcohol, acetone, and ethyl ether.

16. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, and an alcof hol, the distillate being present in the proportion of about three-fourths of the mix ture.

17. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, and ethyl alcohol, the distillate being present in the proportion of about three-fourths of the mixture.

18. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, an alcohol, and an ether, the distillate being present in the proportion of about three-fourths of the mixture. v

19. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, an alcohol,

and a ketone, the distillate being present in the proportion of about three-fourths of the mixture.

20. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, ethyl alcohol, and acetone, the distillate being present in the proportion of about three-fourths of the mixture.

21. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, ethyl alcohol, ethyl ether, and acetone, the distillate being present in the proportion of about;

three-fourths of the mixture.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing, I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day of March, 1920.

BURNELL R. TUNISON. 

